Currently, transportation or shipping of products is done usually in cardboard boxes comprising closing flaps that allow to sealingly closing the box. To this end, on said flaps an adhesive tape, staples or glue is placed.
These currently known transportation or shipping boxes have the drawback of not being specially designed to be used as storage boxes or for preparing orders (“picking”). This way, when the adhesive tape is removed, the closing flaps can be torn, thus preventing the use of the box as a storage box that in turn can be closed again without using new adhesive tape, staples or glue.
Even if the closing flaps are not damaged during the removal of the adhesive tape, the conventional boxes for shipping or transporting products do not have any closing element to allow the box to be opened and closed as many times as needed, which is necessary for its use as a storage box or for preparing orders (“picking”).
It is usual for conventional shipping or transportation boxes to be used as storage boxes, but they are not correctly closed, allowing dust and dirt to get in the box, as well as wasting time by constantly sealing and unsealing the box.
Currently, there are boxes which flaps allow opening and closing the box with its external flaps, which would be damaged if they were sealed, stapled or glued for their shipping, preventing the original function of the box.
If they are correctly closed, for example using an adhesive tape, staples, glue or the like, it is necessary to carry out the opening and closing operation each time the user accesses inside the box, which can be usual.
Boxes comprising two sets of flaps are known; however, they cannot be used as shipping and storage boxes in a particular order, i.e., as shipping box first and as storage box subsequently or vice versa.
For example patent FR 1,189,297 describes a cardboard container comprising some first closing flaps and some second flaps which are used to form a handle.
Unlike the box of the present invention, this container is not a packaging box but a basket whose top flaps form a handle, whose function is to facilitate its handling by hand.
Patent FR 1,578,148 describes a packaging box which purpose is to easily see if it has been tampered with, not for a double use. This packaging box cannot be used to carry out several shipments, as it cannot be sealed a second time due to some of its flaps being separated once it has been used. Besides, due to the closing system through a projection that is introduced in a slot, the box can be opened when applying pressure from the top and it's difficult to close before carrying out a shipment or when the box is full, as the inner flaps or the load inside make the insertion of the projection in the slot difficult.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,869,742 describes a box comprising two sets of flaps. This box's flaps are designed to be used one way only, using some inner flaps as a base to allow gluing additional flaps thereon. This box, once used, cannot be reused as a storage box, since the inner flaps tear upon opening.
U.S. patent publication 2003/0201315 describes a box comprising two sets of flaps. Unlike the box of the present invention, the two sets of flaps are used for sealing and only have a shipping use.
Therefore, the need for a box that could be indistinctly used as a shipping or transportation box and as a storage box or for preparing orders (“picking”) or vice versa, is evident, allowing to seal the box when it is transported and at the same time, comfortably opening and closing it as needed when it is used as a storage box or for preparing orders (“picking”).